Think from KERA

After the atomic bomb helped end World War II, many wondered if the U.S. would also deploy the world’s most-feared weapon in the Korean War. This hour, we’ll talk about how that question drove a wedge between the White House and the military with H.W. Brands, chair of the history department at UT-Austin. His new book is called “The General vs. The President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War” (Doubleday).

Most nights around sunset, a thick, black cloud emerges from under Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge. That’s when a swarm of Mexican free-tailed bats heads out into the night to hunt. This hour, we’ll take in the scene from the bridge with bat experts from the non-profit Austin Bat Refuge. And later in the hour, we’ll talk about new research into how bats use sonar with Mike Ryan, professor of integrative biology at UT-Austin, and UT graduate student May Dixon.

Humans are continuously evolving, just as our earliest ancestors did. The difference is, through medical advancements we’re also contributing artificially to our natural progress. This hour, guest host Lauren Silverman talks about why this combination makes the future more unpredictable than ever with Rice University evolutionary biologist Scott Solomon. He’s the author of “Future Humans: Inside the Science of Our Continuing Evolution” (Yale University Press).

Actress Mariel Hemingway has become an advocate for mental health and addiction services after surviving a childhood surrounded by people who needed help. This hour, guest host Lauren Silverman talks with her about overcoming “The Hemingway Curse,” and we’ll learn more about how people with alcoholism, depression and other conditions are treated with Dr. Harold Urschel, chief medical strategist for Enterhealth.

The two-week fight at the Chosin Reservoir was one of the decisive battles of the Korean War – and one of the seminal moments in the history of the Marine Corps. This hour, we’ll talk about how the battle helped set the course for American foreign policy with historian Hampton Sides. He contributed to the American Experience documentary “The Battle of Chosin,” which airs Nov. 1 on KERA-TV.

In the last year, populist movements have pushed unlikely candidates Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump to the forefront of American politics and forced the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. This hour, we’ll talk about how populists movements form and gain momentum with John B. Judis, author of “The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics” (Columbia Global Reports).

By 2050, 80 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. That means these urban centers will carry the burden of climate change, income inequality and other side effects of a growing population. This hour, we’ll talk about how cities can answer these challenges with Jonathan Rose, author of “The Well-Tempered City: What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations, and Human Nature Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life” (Harper Wave). He’s in town for an event tonight at the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture, and he’s the keynote speaker at the Urban Land Institute national convention at the Hutchison Convention Center.

This month, Tesla announced that its electric cars will be the first in the nation to be outfitted with the hardware needed to control themselves. This hour, we’ll talk about the technological advancements that have us on the brink of self-driving cars, and we’ll discuss the many logistical questions inherent with autonomous driving. We’ll be joined by Nick Gans, who researches self-driving cars at UT-Dallas.

With each passing day it seems a new poll is released letting us know who’s up or down in the presidential race. This hour, we’ll talk about how polling data is collected – and about how we should interpret the results – with UT-Dallas political science professor and polling expert Harold Clarke.

In March the Obama administration authorized Americans to once again travel to Cuba. This hour, we’ll talk about what it’s like to visit the country today – and about if Cuba is ready for the influx of tourists – with Cathy Gorney. Her story “Here Comes a Wave of Change for Cuba” appears in the November issue of National Geographic magazine.